Electrical card connector preventing card from flying out of the receiving space

ABSTRACT

An electrical card connector ( 100 ) includes an insulative housing ( 1 ), a number of contacts ( 2 ) retained in the insulative housing, a metal shell ( 3 ) covering the insulative housing for defining a receiving space ( 10 ) and having an opening ( 31 ) extending along a front-and-rear direction, and a slider ( 4 ) movable on the insulative housing along the front-and-rear direction. The slider includes a base portion ( 41 ), an operating portion ( 44 ) extending upwardly from the base portion to be exposed outside of the metal shell through the opening, and an actuating portion ( 45 ) extending sidewardly from the base portion into the receiving space for ejecting an insertion card. The operating portion is operable to move the slider.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to an electrical card connector,and more particularly to an electrical card connector that prevents aninserted card from flying out of its receiving space during ejection.

2. Description of Related Arts

An electrical card connector usually comprises an insulative housing, aplurality of contacts retained in the insulative housing, a metal shellcovering the insulative housing for defining a receiving space, and anejector ejecting an inserted card out of the receiving space along anejection direction. The ejector usually comprises a slider with aheart-shaped slot for effectuating a push-push operation, a springmember biasing the slider toward the ejection direction, and a pinmember with one end secured on the insulative housing and the other endmoveable in the heart-shaped slot. The spring member is deformed by theinserted card during the card's insertion process to impart springforce. During the card's ejection process, stored energy of the springmember is released to drive the slider to move along the ejectiondirection and therefore push the card out of the receiving space.Because the force of the spring member is not controlled by a user, thecard may fly out of the receiving space if not properly handled.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,448, issued to Stewart et al. on Aug. 8, 1995,discloses a small computer having a card interface slot and an ejectionmechanism for ejecting an inserted card. A user ejects the inserted cardby sliding a slider which is positioned in a shallow recess on thebottom of the computer. The slider is connected to an ejector whichpresses against the inserted end of the card.

An electrical card connector preventing an inserted card from flying outof the receiving space is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide anelectrical card connector preventing an inserted card from flying out ofthe receiving space.

To achieve the above object, an electrical card connector includes aninsulative housing, a number of contacts retained in the insulativehousing, a metal shell covering the insulative housing for defining areceiving space and having an opening extending along a front-and-reardirection, and a slider movable on the insulative housing along thefront-and-rear direction. The slider includes a base portion, anoperating portion extending upwardly from the base portion to be exposedoutside of the metal shell through the opening, and an actuating portionextending sidewardly from the base portion into the receiving space forejecting an insertion card. The operating portion is operable to movethe slider.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective, assembled view of an electrical card connectorconstructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective, exploded view of the electrical card connectorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a similar to but taken a different view from FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective, assembled view of the electrical card connectorand an electrical card is initially inserted into an receiving space ofthe electrical card connector, as well as a perspective view of theelectrical card connector and the electrical card is about to be ejectedout of the receiving space of the electrical card connector;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the electrical card connector and theelectrical card is fully inserted into the receiving space of theelectrical card connector;

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are perspective views of the electrical cardconnectors and the electrical cards are falsely inserted into thereceiving spaces of the electrical card connectors; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a slider in a second embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an electronic device on which theelectrical card connector of FIG. 1 is mounted wherein the slider ismoved to an outer position for ejecting the electronic card from theelectrical card connector.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the electronic device of FIG. 9 whereinthe slider is moved to an inner position during insertion of the cardinto the electrical card connector.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the electronic device of FIG. 10 withthe battery installed without interference with the card.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1-7, an electrical card connector 100 of the presentinvention used for receiving an electrical card 200, comprises aninsulative housing 1, a plurality of contacts 2 retained in theinsulative housing 1, a metal shell 3 covering the insulative housing 1for defining a receiving space 10, and a slider 4 assembled at a side ofthe insulative housing 1 for ejecting the electrical card 200 out of thereceiving space 10.

Referring to FIG. 2, the insulative housing 1 comprises a main portion11 with a plurality of passageways 110 each extending along afront-and-rear direction, a left sidewall 12 extending upwardly from theleft edge of the main portion 11, and a rear wall 13 extending upwardlyfrom the rear edge of the main portion 11 and integrally connecting withthe left sidewall 12. The passageways 110 are positioned in two rowseach defining a left-and-right direction perpendicular to thefront-and-rear direction. The main portion 11 further comprises alengthwise slot 111 positioned between the left sidewall 12 and thepassageways 110 and sidewardly extending from the front row ofpassageways 1101 to the rear row of the passageways 1102. The leftsidewall 12 defines a lengthwise recess 121 from an upper edge thereofwhich is corresponding to the lengthwise slot 111 along thefront-and-rear direction.

Referring to FIG. 2, the contacts 2 are retained in the passageways 110of the insulative housing 1. Each contact 2 has a soldering portion 21extending below a bottom surface of the main portion 11 for soldering ona printed circuit board (not shown) and a contacting portion 22extending upwardly beyond the main portion 11 into the receiving space10 for electrically connecting with the a plurality of electrical pads203 of the electrical card 200.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3, and 5, the slider 4 comprises a base portion41, a first rib 42 extending downwardly from the base portion 41, asecond rib 43 extending leftwardly from the base portion 41, anoperating portion 44 extending upwardly from the base portion 41, and anactuating portion 45 extending rightwardly from the base portion 41 forprotruding into the receiving space 10. When the slider 4 is assembledon the insulative housing 1, the first rib 42 is moveably received inthe lengthwise slot 111 of the main portion 11 and the second rib 43 isreceived in the lengthwise recess 121 of the left sidewall 12. Generallyspeaking, the operating portion 44 and the first rib 42 are positionedat the upper-and-lower opposite sides of the base portion 41 while thesecond rib 43 and the actuating portion 45 are positioned at theleft-and-right opposite sides of the base portion 41.

Referring to FIGS. 4-7, the metal shell 3 comprises a flat portion 30and a pair of lateral portions 32 extending downwardly from the flatportion 30. The flat portion 30 defines an opening 31 extending alongthe front-and-rear direction. When the metal shell 3 is secured on theinsulative housing 1, the operating portion 44 extends upwardly out ofthe metal shell 3 from the opening 31. The opening 31 has a certainlength along the front-and-rear direction so that the operating portion44 is moveable in the opening 31 along the front-and-rear direction.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the electrical card 200 is substantiallyrectangular shaped. The electrical card 200 has a cut portion 201 at oneof the corners. Therefore, the actuating portion 45 of the slider 4engages with the cut portion 201 when the cut portion 201 is on the leftand rear side for preventing false insertion of the electrical card 200into the receiving space 10. Because when the cut portion 201 is notengaged with the actuating portion 45, the electrical connector 200 alsopushes the slider 4 to move along the front-and-rear direction, but asmall distance “d” of the electrical card 200 still remains beingexposed outside of the receiving space 10 when the slider 4 moves to afinal position where the slider 4 contact with the rear wall 13 of theinsulative housing 1, notifying that the electrical card 200 is falselyinserted into the receiving space 10.

The slider 4 has two embodiments respectively shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.8. In a first embodiment in FIG. 2, the operating portion 44 of theslider 4 extends to cover the actuating portion 45. The actuatingportion 45 is not visible by a user from a top, elevational view of theslider 4. In a second embodiment in FIG. 8, the actuating portion 45 isexposed beside the operating portion 44. The electrical card 200 isfirmly compressed by the operating portion 44 when the slider 4 of FIG.2 is used in the electrical card connector 100.

During insertion of the electrical card 200 into the connector 100 ofthe present invention, a user manually pushes on the electrical card 200along an insertion direction to achieve an engagement between theelectrical card 200 and the contacts 2 when the slider 4 is moved to thefinal position. During ejection of the electrical card 200, the usermanually pushes on the operating portion 44 of the slider 4 along anejection direction to eject the electrical card 200. The electrical card200 is prevented from flying out of the receiving space 10 because speedof the slider 4 is not so fast when the slider 4 is controlled by theuser.

FIG. 9 essentially shows the electrical card connector 100 used withinan electronic device 500, e.g., the smart phone. The electronic device500 forms a shallow recess 502 and deep recess 504 joined with eachother with a stepped structure 510 therebetween. The receiving space 10communicates with the deep recess 504 through the stepped structure 510so as to allow the card 200 to be inserted into the connector 100 viasaid deep recess 504. The operating portion 44 of the slider 4 extendsout of the shell 3 and into the thin recess. In this embodiment, boththe shallow recess 502 and the deep recess 504 are located in a backface of the electronic device 500 and covered by a detachable cover 700which complies with a contour of the case of the electronic device 500as most mobile phone are configured. As shown in FIG. 11, the battery600 shown in the dashed lines is adapted to be received within the deeprecess 504 compliantly. Notably, when the card 200 is inserted into thereceiving space 10 in a wrong way as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a portionof the card 200 may protrude out of the receiving space 10 and into thedeep recess 504 so as to prevent the battery 600 from being installedtherein. Under this condition, the whole arrangement of the electricalcard connector 100 not only operates in a protective manner via thedetachable cover shielding the operating portion 44 and the receivingspace 10 being not exposed to the exterior outside of the case of theelectronic device while only to the deep recess 504 which is shielded bythe detachable cover, but also assures in a correct way via theinstallation of the battery 600.

While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present inventionhas been shown and described, equivalent modifications and changes knownto persons skilled in the art according to the spirit of the presentinvention are considered within the scope of the present invention asdescribed in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electrical card connector comprising: aninsulative housing; a plurality of contacts retained in the insulativehousing; a metal shell covering the insulative housing for defining areceiving space, the metal shell having an opening extending along afront-and-rear direction; and a slider movable on the insulative housingalong the front-and-rear direction, the slider comprising a baseportion, an operating portion extending upwardly from the base portionto be exposed outside of the metal shell through the opening, theoperating portion being operable to move the slider, and an actuatingportion extending sidewardly from the base portion into the receivingspace for ejecting an inserted card.
 2. The electrical card connector asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the insulative housing defines two rows offront-and-rear passageways and a lengthwise slot extending from thefront row passageways to the rear row passageways and wherein a firstrib extending downwardly from the base portion is received in thelengthwise slot for defining a route of the slider.
 3. The electricalcard connector as claimed in claim 2, wherein the insulative housingcomprises a left sidewall, the left sidewall defines a lengthwise recessfrom an upper edge thereof, the slider comprises a second rib extendingleftwardly from the base portion, and the second rib is received in thelengthwise recess.
 4. The electrical card connector as claimed in claim3, wherein the lengthwise recess is positioned corresponding to thelengthwise slot along the front-and-rear direction.
 5. The electricalcard connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the operating portion ofthe slider extends to cover the actuating portion.
 6. An electrical cardconnector assembly comprising: an electrical card connector including:an insulative housing defining a receiving space thereabouts, saidreceiving space communicating with an exterior in a front-to-backdirection for insertion of an electronic card thereinto; a plurality ofcontacts disposed in the housing with contacting sections extending intothe receiving space; a slider located beside the receiving space andmoveable along said front-to-back direction, said slider including anactuating portion extending into the receiving space, and an operatingportion extending away from the receiving space in a vertical directionperpendicular to said front-to-back direction; wherein said actuatingportion is configured for complying with a contour of the electroniccard so as to have the electronic card fully received within thereceiving space when the electronic card is correctly inserted thereintowhile preventing the electronic card fully received within the receivingspace when the electronic card is wrongfully inserted thereinto.
 7. Theelectrical card connector assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein saidslider is located beside the receiving space in a transverse directionperpendicular to both said front-to-back direction and said verticaldirection so as to have the actuating portion extend into the receivingspace in the transverse direction.
 8. The electrical card connectorassembly as claimed in claim 6, further including a metallic shellassociated with the housing to restrain the receiving space in thevertical direction, wherein said shell includes an opening through whichthe operating portion extend in the vertical direction.
 9. Theelectrical card connector assembly as claimed in claim 8, wherein theshell and the housing are configured to allow the shell to be assembledto the housing initially in the vertical direction and successfully inthe front-to-back direction.
 10. The electrical card connector assemblyas claimed in claim 6, wherein a movement range of the slider along thefront-to-back direction is dimensioned to be about one half of a lengthof the electronic card so as to have one half of the electronic cardexposed outside of the receiving space after ejecting the electroniccard for easy gripping.
 11. The electrical card connector assembly asclaimed in claim 6, wherein the housing is formed in an electronicdevice defining opposite shallow and deep recesses in the front-to-backdirection, said shallow recess joined with the deep recess via a steppedstructure, the receiving space being open to the deep recess in thefront-to-back direction while the operating portion extending into theshallow recess in the vertical direction.
 12. The electrical cardconnector assembly as claimed in claim 11, wherein a detachable covershields both the shallow recess and the deep recess so as to efficientlyshield the electrical card connector from an exterior.
 13. Theelectrical card connector assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein saidactuating portion forms a chamfered structure for compliance withanother chamfered structure on the electronic card.
 14. An electricalcard connector assembly comprising: an electrical connector including:an insulative housing cooperating with a metallic shell to commonlydefine a receiving space therebetween in a vertical direction, saidreceiving space communicating with an exterior in a front-to-backdirection perpendicular to said vertical direction; a plurality ofcontacts disposed in the housing with contacting sections extending intothe receiving space in said vertical direction; a slider located besidethe receiving space in transverse direction perpendicular to both saidvertical direction and said front-to-back direction, and being moveablealong the front-to-back direction; wherein said slider forms anactuating portion extending into the receiving space in the transversedirection, and an operating portion extending away from the receivingspace in the vertical direction.
 15. The electrical card connectorassembly as claimed in claim 14, wherein the actuating portion forms achamfered structure for compliance with another chamfered structure onan electronic card adapted to be received within the receiving space.16. The electrical card connector assembly as claimed in claim 14,wherein a range of movement of the slider along the front-to-backdirection is around one half of the receiving space.
 17. The electricalcard connector assembly as claimed in claim 14, wherein the shellincludes an opening through which said operating portion upwardlyextends.
 18. The electrical card connector assembly as claimed in claim17, wherein said shell further includes a plurality of through holesaligned with the corresponding contacts, respectively, in the verticaldirection.
 19. The electrical card connector assembly as claimed inclaim 14, further including an electronic device in which the electricalcard connector is mounted, wherein said electronic device forms a deeprecess and a shallow recess joined with each other via a steppedstructure, wherein the receiving space communicates with the deep recessin the front-to-back direction while the operating portion extends intothe shallow recess in the vertical direction.
 20. The electrical cardconnector assembly as claimed in claim 14, wherein said shell isconfigured to be assembled to the housing in the vertical direction withthe slider sandwiched between the shell and the housing except theoperating portion which extends away from the receiving space and out ofthe shell.